This ledger covers the period January 1881-January 1888. There are also occasional entries for 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1896, and 1905. The book contains accounts payable and receivable, along with cost accounts for many of Edison's companies and experiments. The accounts cover a broad range of activities, from petty cash and sundries to the large electrical undertakings and the foreign electrical exhibitions. Payroll accounts and the costs of building the West Orange Laboratory are also recorded. The accounts are balanced and the remainders are assigned to a profit-and-loss account. The spine on the dust cover is labeled "Thomas A. Edison Personal General Ledger Jan. 1, 1881 to Jan. 1, 1888" and "5." It is also marked "K 2." The book contains 769 numbered pages and an index. The bottom line on some of the pages may be illegible because of water damage.

Blank pages: 176-177, 230-231, 250-251, 264-265, 356-357, 386-387, 406-407, 410-411, 414-417, 420-421, 430-431, 436-443, 448-451, 612-627.